Weather Vault: August 2013

Weather Vault: August 2013

August 2013 started out nicely with high temperatures in the lower 80s and mostly sunny skies for the first, a Thursday. However, that wouldn't last long. Rain arrive for the 2nd and stuck around into the 3rd, a Saturday. We did squeeze out one nice day for the weekend on Sunday with highs only in the middle 70s. We continued the nice weather into the beginning of the next week. with highs in the lower 80s and more sunshine.

Though Tuesday ,the 6th was dry, it was also very muggy with highs in the 80s and dew points in the 70s! This caused morning fog and we saw a repeat of the dense fog on the morning of Wednesday, the 7th. Wednesday afternoon also saw some storms from all of the humidity. We got a break from storms on Thursday and Friday as the humidity slowly started to come down. This left us with a great weekend with highs only around 80 and partly cloudy skies.

The next week started out with temperatures around 80, but storms were around for the evening hours of Monday. This brought cooler, drier air to the area. Tuesday through Friday were all mostly sunny with high in the middle to upper 70s and overnight lows as low as the middle 50s. This was about 10 degrees below normal and a few places broke morning low records. We held on to the fall-like weather into the weekend that only saw highs in the lower 80s.

The following week started with middle 80s and a warm-up on Monday, the 19th. The rest of the week continued the warm-up with mostly sunny skies and highs reaching to around 90 by Thursday, the 22nd. Storms also arrived Thursday evening, but it only brought a quick cool-down. The storms were also very scattered and therefore we didn't get much rain out of these storms. Totals were only around 0.25".

While the last full weekend in August was warm, the last week was hot. Monday saw a round of 90 degree temperatures with heat index numbers around 100. Tuesday through Saturday, the 31st, saw highs around 93 to 95 and heat index values pushing 105. Things also stayed dry, pushing central towards one of the driest Augusts on record. In fact, the dry August pushed parts of central Illinois back into a moderate drought. You can see this in the image to the right. There were a few isolated storms on the evening of the 30th and on the evening of the 31st, but the isolated nature kept these from being drought busters.

Scroll down to see a summary of the month for a few select cities.

State SummaryThe state of Illinois recorded the 3rd driest August on record, which is why the drought is spreading across the state. Average precipitation was 1.38", 2.22" below the 1981-2010 average. For temperatures, the month started cool and ended hot, but that worked out in the end, as we were very close to the 1981-2010 average.

National SummaryThe average temperature for the U.S. during August was 73.1, just 1 degree above the 20th century average and the 28th warmest on record. Most of the warmer air was in the Pacific Northwest. National precipitation was averaged to 2.63", which is only 0.03" above the average.

August also wrapped up the Meteorological Summer and the average for Summer was 72.6 degrees, 1.2 degrees above the 20th century average and the 15th warmest on record for the U.S. Alaska actually had its second warmest summer on record. Rainfall was also above normal by 1.28", at 9.53".

Global SummaryAugust 2013 was the 4th warmest August on record, tying 2005 at 1.12 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. This wrapped up a hot summer for the globe, with the global temperature for June through August reaching 1.53 degrees above normal, tying this August with 2009 for the seventh warmest on record. Click here to see the climate highlights of August 2013.

Local Numbers

Average High Temperature

Normal

July 2013

Champaign-Urbana

83.7

84.2

Danville

83.8

83.1

Decatur

86.1

82.9

Effingham

Not Listed

85.2

Springfield

84.9

84.6

Average Low Temperature

Normal

July 2013

Champaign-Urbana

63.1

62.0

Danville

63.1

61.8

Decatur

64.1

64.0

Effingham

Not Listed

61.7

Springfield

63.6

61.8

Average Temperature

Normal

July 2013

Champaign-Urbana

73.4

73.1

Danville

73.5

72.4

Decatur

75.1

73.5

Effingham

Not Listed

73.5

Springfield

74.3

73.2

Precipitation

Normal

July 2013

Champaign-Urbana

3.93"

0.85"

Danville

3.48"

1.71"

Decatur

3.77"

0.09"

Effingham

Not Listed

0.39"

Springfield

3.24"

0.34"

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